Student discipline in New Hampshire schools

A new analysis of student discipline in New Hampshire schools in the 2007–2008 school year shows that out-of-school suspension rates are higher and statewide expulsion rates are lower than the average. Schools reporting the highest rates of suspensions and expulsions are the smallest in the state and have the highest percentage of students in poverty. This brief is the first in a collaborative series between the Children\u27s Alliance of New Hampshire and the Carsey Institute

Homeless teens and young adults in New Hampshire

More than 1,000 adolescents and young adults in New Hampshire are homeless, and their numbers are growing. The brief, co-published with the Children\u27s Alliance of New Hampshire, provides an estimate of homeless youth in New Hampshire calculated from and state data and describes the needs of homeless youth based on interviews and a survey of providers of homeless services in the state

Indicators of New Hampshire youth well-being

According to a new study, New Hampshire youth, ages 13 to 24, are more likely to complete school, be employed, and have lower obesity rates than their peers nationwide but fare worse in measures of alcohol and substance abuse. This brief, a co-publication with the Children\u27s Alliance of New Hampshire, provides an overview of youth well-being in New Hampshire calculated from and state data and compares Granite State youth with peers across the country

New Hampshire Children in Need of Services: Impacts of 2011 Legislative Changes to CHINS

Using administrative data from state and local agencies and data from interviews with CHINS professionals, this brief provides an overview of participation in the Children in Need of Services (CHINS) program before and after the change in the law in September 2011 but before funding returned in 2013. Specifically, it examines changes in CHINS petitions filed, children served, and services provided to children and their families in the state. Authors Lisa Speropolous and Barbara Wauchope present the study as an example of the impact that state fiscal policy can have on the most vulnerable of New Hampshire’s populations

Mapping food insecurity and food sources in New Hampshire cities and towns

Using a series of detailed New Hampshire maps, this brief presents a geographic picture of the towns and cities at risk for food insecurity as well as the food resources available across the state. By detailing places with high food insecurity risk and comparing them to places where food is available, these maps show areas of unmet need. This information will enable organizations partnering with New Hampshire Hunger Solutions to identify where initiatives addressing food insecurity and hunger could have the greatest potential impact

Comprehensive Evaluation of Home Visiting New Hampshire: Final Report.

Home Visiting New Hampshire (HVNH) is a statewide initiative of the Division of Public Health Services (DPHS) Bureau of Maternal and Child Health. The program began in 2001 with awards to support programs in 13 sites and expanded in 2002 for a total of 19 sites across New Hampshire. The grantees provide home-based services to Medicaid-eligible pregnant women and their families, particularly those at-risk for poor pregnancy outcomes, child abuse and neglect, substance abuse, and depression. The goals of Home Visiting New Hampshire are to 1. promote healthy pregnancy and birth outcomes. 2. promote a safe and nurturing environment for children. 3. enhance families’ life course and development. In the HVNH program model, specially trained home visitors and nurses regularly visit pregnant women and their families in their homes to deliver a health and parenting education curriculum, information, referrals, and support to participants. This team coordinates its work within the HVNH grantee agency and with the grantee’s partners, i.e., other organizations in the community that can provide needed staff or services. To determine how well the program has succeeded in achieving its goals, DPHS contracted with RMC Research Corporation in November 2002 to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to assess program implementation and outcomes. Data collection involved collecting a large amount of information from participating mothers over multiple points in time while they were in the program, using HVNH Home Visitors and Nurses as the primary data collectors. The evaluation also included surveys of participants and home visiting staff, and information collected about programs through site visits

Federal child nutrition programs are important to rural households

This brief, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, examines how rural families use four of the major federal child nutrition programs. It finds that 29 percent of rural families with children participate but that there are barriers to these nutrition programs, such as the lack of public transportation and high operating costs for rural schools and child care programs

Outside Evaluation of Conecticut\u27s Family Resource Centers : Final report

In 193, the Connecticut State Department of Education received federal support for the activities of nine existing Family Resource Centers (FRC) and for funding new FRCs. The FRCs were based on the premise that many childhood and adolescent problems can be prevented by strengthening effective family management practices and establishing a continuum of child care and support services linked to public schools or located in public school buildings. This report details the evaluation of the 18 school-based/linked FRCs, describing their structure and contexts, examining evidence of service use, and presenting information on the effects of the FRCs on families and schools. Chapter 1 presents the service delivery model, describes the core services, and describes the evaluation plan. Chapters 2 through 5 summarize findings related to the following areas: (1) structure of core services, service delivery, financial supports, and staffing characteristics; (2) processes used to deliver services in a school-based/linked setting, including collaborative arrangements; (3) use of FRC services; (4) impacts of FRCs on families and children; and (5) impact of FRCs on schools. Chapter 6 discuses the patterns observed that reflect the implementation of the FRC service delivery model and implications for delivering comprehensive integrated services to families. This chapter also presents recommendations for sustaining the school-based/linked delivery model of the FRCs at meaningful levels. Chapter 7 presents profiles of the 18 FRCs, including their setting, service delivery arrangements, primary collaborative arrangements, and the school relationship. Nine appendices include a description of the Evaluation Support System and data collection instruments. (KB

Rural participation in federal child nutrition programs: two studies

Carsey Institute Child Nutrition Briefings, Washington, D

Children experiencing unemployment stress: A comparison of families with stable and unstable employment histories

This study investigates children\u27s experiences of changes that occur in families when fathers lose their jobs, the children\u27s interpretations and responses to those changes, and their resulting symptoms of stress. In the first part, school-aged children and their parents in fourteen two-parent families in northern New England were interviewed and completed instruments measuring the children\u27s behavior and symptoms of stress. In the second part, adults from seventy-six additional families completed a self-administered questionnaire. In both parts, children in families were divided into two groups and compared: middle-class with older parents in which fathers had little or no history of losing permanent full-time jobs, and working-class with younger parents in which fathers had histories of repeated loss of seasonal or temporary employment. Children in families who went through a layoff and subsequent unemployment for the first time experienced more changes, perceived the changes as more threatening, and responded more actively to manage the greater stress they experienced than did children in families with histories of repeated joblessness. Their parents played a significant role in mediating how the children experienced their fathers\u27 unemployment. The parents with no history of joblessness reacted to the loss of their status and declines in standard of living by increasing maternal employment, reorganizing the household division of labor and roles, and protecting their children\u27s lifestyles. Children perceived these strategies as increasing marital conflict and reducing positive parent-child and family interaction. In contrast, the parents who had experienced repeated unemployment responded with strategies that minimized negative changes in their families and increased positive father-child interactions. These findings contribute to our understanding of how families cope with the stresses produced by a restructuring economy